Death Wish
by Lady Neeko
Summary: "In Nonna's defense, it can be considered a regular occurrence." "That I piss off your mom?" "No, that you or Uncle Frankie get hurt."
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_Death Wish  
><em>

**Pairing:** _Rizzles, don't like, don't read._  
><strong>Rating:<strong> _T_  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: _All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual._

**Summary:** "In Nonna's defense, it can be considered a regular occurrence." "That I piss off your mom?" "No, that you or Uncle Frankie get hurt."

**Author's Note: **_Another story in my AU Rizzoli-Isles family series. __Regina fought me for some time in the spotlight, and this is what came out. It's longer than the others, and this is part 1 of a few. Not sure how many yet, but a very short fic. Anyways, enjoy!  
><em>

* * *

><p>"I want to be something more... intense than a cop."<p>

That sentence scared the crap out of Maura, who practically dropped the clothes she had just spent over a half hour folding, to stare at her youngest daughter. "I do not even think I can comprehend what you just said."

The sixteen year old had been sitting unusually quiet next to her mother up until this moment, which Maura would have questioned sooner if she didn't immensely enjoy knowing the fact that her most... adventurous, for lack of a better word, daughter was safe and sitting still.

"Michael! Give me my Christian Louboutin heels back this instant! They cost more than your life, and I don't want you scuffing them up!" Sammy Jo's voice rang out. Not one to usually yell loud enough to be heard throughout the house, both Maura and Regina were startled by the sudden sound.

"We should probably have some sort of talk about why Mikey keeps stealing Slug's clothes, but that's a different talk for a different day," Regina smirked, and Maura chose it would be best just to ignore her for now.

She sighed, and called up the stairs to the fighting pair of siblings. "Michael, give your sister back her shoes. Samantha Jo, don't yell. And don't make the assumption that your heels are worth more than your brother. We would first have to come up with an appropriate way to measure his life in terms of money to figure that out."

It grew quiet once again, and Maura motioned for Regina to follow her up the stairs, in case any of the folded socks fell from the pile of clothes she was carrying on her way. Regina obeyed without a word of protest. Maura wondered what had gotten into all her children, and decided to turn down the thermostat as she passed it, briefly considering the fact that maybe they were all suffering from heat stroke.

They made it into the bedroom Maura shared with Jane, and Regina plopped down on the bed as Maura began putting the clothes away. "Ma thinks I'm going to be a cop like her. She always has. I mean, I know you two are always all 'you can be whatever you want to be blah blah blah', but she's always thought I'd be the one to follow her."

"I'd be lying if I said I disagreed with her. To be honest, honey, you always seemed like you wanted to. Are you trying, in a round about way, to tell me otherwise?"

"I don't want to be a cop. I...want to try to get into West Point after senior year. I want to be an army officer."

Maura temporarily forgot how to breathe.

"You know, before you say anything, I think you should know that I actually might stand a chance on getting in. I mean, I have the grades, because you're a freaking psycho when it comes to school work and pushed the hell out of me, and you know I'm physically fit. And, I mean, come on. I like the whole adrenaline, work your ass off, kind of thing. I always have. So... what do you think?" Regina rambled.

It was a loaded question, and even Regina knew that. Her mother's brilliant brain was firing off into a million different directions, and she could hardly focus on one to come up with an appropriate response. She was beginning to feel light headed. Luckily for her, her cell phone began to ring. Holding up a finger to emphasis to her daughter that she needed to take the call, seeing that it was Barry Frost's number flashing on her screen, she answered it. "Isles."

"Doc, it's me," he began, and when he hesitated, Maura jumped into the conversation.

"Need me to meet you somewhere? Was there a body?" she asked. As far as she knew, Frost and Jane were supposedly following up on leads from other cases all day, so she assumed the work call must mean a new case.

Regina made a face; unlike her older brother Vinny, she was always disgusted by the nature of her mom's job and dead bodies. Maura mentally filed that fact away to bring up later, when they inevitably argued about her newest life decision.

"No, Doc, uh, this isn't a work call..."

It was then that she took a mental note of the way Barry's voice quivered ever so slightly, and how his voice was much softer than usual. It was his "talking to the victim's family" voice, and that realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Her legs gave out and she sank to the floor, Regina watching her with confused eyes, unsure of what was going on. "What is it, then?" Maura's voice was harsher than she intended.

"It's Jane."

* * *

><p>She hated hospitals.<p>

She knew it sounded absurd, considering she was a doctor, but there was a reason she chose a morgue instead of here.

Mikey was practically in her lap, sat in his own seat but leaned over for comfort so far he might as well be. She knew her eleven-year-old, who had always been somewhat of a snuggle bug, wanted nothing more than to be engulfed in her arms at the moment, but she also knew that, because he was eleven now, he was doing his best not to let anyone know that.

Sammy Jo was sat on the other side of her, flipping aimlessly through one of the magazines that was on the table in front of her, though Maura knew she wasn't actually reading it. Sammy Jo, like Maura, was lost in her head, her thoughts consuming her for the moment.

Next to Sammy Jo was Jane's mother Angela, her hand on Sammy Jo's leg, trying to support the family and herself at the same time. Standing around them were Frankie, Frost, and Korsak, all anxious and pacing.

Regina sat across from her family, having kept quiet since the moment her mother got off the phone, wanting to be left alone and by herself for the moment.

They were all together in the waiting room as a family, waiting to hear if Jane, the glue that kept them all together, was going to be okay.

"Mom?" Everyone turned their head in the direction of Vinny's voice. He was working when he got the call from Sammy Jo. Not able to answer the phone, he heard her on the voicemail twenty minutes later, telling him to get to the hospital immediately. "What's going on, what happened?"

Maura looked up at him with tear filled eyes, and when Korsak realized she wasn't able to answer her son, he stepped over and put a hand on the oldest Rizzoli-Isles child's shoulder. "Vin, your Ma's been hurt on the job. She's in surgery."

"Hurt? How, what happened?"

"We were chasing a suspect," Frost spoke up, his eyes full with guilt. "We thought we lost him, so we were going to do a quick surveillance of the area. Jane... your Ma... she must have saw something I didn't, because she took of running. When I caught up-"

"She took an unnecessary risk," Maura interrupted, barely above a whisper.

"Well, will she be okay?"

"Your Ma? Of course she will. She just has to scare us all every once in a while, take all the years off of our lives. I would have lived to be a hundred, but thanks to my daughter, I'll probably only make it another couple more!" Angela spoke out.

"She'll be fine," Maura told her son. "She was lucky, but the surgery should be simple enough and she'll be home tomorrow."

"She'll be cranky, 'cause she's gonna have to lie around and rest. Ma hates resting," Mikey said.

Vinny stepped closer to his mom. "Stop thinking. You're thinking too much. You, too, Sam," he said, gently kicking his sister in the foot. "I know you're thinking about everything that could have gone wrong."

"Someone has to," Maura said. "Your Ma sure doesn't."

* * *

><p>Mikey's declaration that Jane would be cranky was an understatement. She was downright miserable.<p>

Her entire torso hurt, sore from the surgery and, well, the stabbing itself, and she was already bored with the television and the couch she was forced to stay on. Not to mention Maura barely spoke to her, other than to spew medical jargon at her any time she tried to get up, Regina hadn't been come down to watch the baseball game with her (which she also thought was strange), and everyone in the family except for Mikey (who was probably just too young to get it) seemed to be pissed off at her.

She wasn't really sure what the hell she did to deserve any of this.

"Where's mom? Can you tell her I left for work?" Vinny said, tying his tie as he entered the living room.

"You work too much. I never see you anymore," Jane said.

Vinny shrugged. "You know what it's like to love your job. Plus, the more time I do this part time crap, the more likely they'll let me apprentice after I get my degree."

"And you really want to work at a _funeral home_, Vin?"

"You really want to chase down perps for a living, risking yourself all the time, Ma?"

"Touche."

"Yeah. I thought so."

Vinny made his way towards the door, but Jane called out after him. "Wait, Vinny, come on. Talk to me."

"I'm going to be late."

"You can spare five minutes," she said, and he stopped walking. "What, you pissed at me?"

"No, Ma, I'm not pissed, okay? It's just been a long couple days. You scared the crap out of us. But I'm not mad, okay? I just... I just want to go to work. Where I have to work a funeral. For a family of six who's dad fell off a ladder while fixing their roof. And thank God that it ain't you," he told her, and began walking towards the door again. "But," he paused. "When you're feeling up to it? Let's get tickets and go to a game or something. The two of us. Like we used to. My treat."

"Your treat? Maybe I should get hurt more often."

"First off, I'm a working boy now. Got me some cash. And second of all, shut the hell up, that's not funny."

"Love you Vin. Go be the man and bring home the bacon."

"Yeah, 'cause this family is full of gender stereotypes," he said, opening the door. "Love you, Ma."

Jane smiled. "Love you, too, kid."

The door closed, and it was then that Maura walked into the room. "Did someone leave?"

"Vinny went to work."

"Oh. Good," she said, and made her way over to Jane, who wanted to pull her wife into her arms, but Maura wasn't having it. She was business as usual, lifting Jane's shirt to check her bandage. "We're going to have to change that later. And your mother wants to come buy and cook us dinner."

"Oh, Jesus. You get rid of her?"

"No, Jane, I didn't," Maura replied. "I don't feel much like cooking, and it was a nice offer, so I took it. I'm exhausted and could use the help."

Maura moved around as she spoke, tidying up the living room that Jane had been living in the past couple of days. "Maura, can you slow down a second and talk to me? Jeez, you and your son are like tornadoes today. Blowing in and out of this living room without so much of a conversation without a little pushing. Come on, Maur. I miss my wife."

This made Maura abruptly stop in her tracks. "Oh yeah? How do you think I would feel if something had happened to you? Don't you think I might miss my wife?"

"Oh. Okay. So you're pissed," Jane said. "I get that, I do, but I was just doing my job."

"You didn't even tell Barry what was going on! You aren't superwoman, Jane, you need to stop taking these insane risks! Your job is to catch the bad guy, not get yourself killed!" she began screaming.

The small thumps that could be heard upstairs alerted Jane to the fact that they had an audience of one to three of their children listening at the top of the stairs. "Keep your voice down, Maura."

"Keep my voice down?" She did the opposite, getting louder. "You don't even _understand_, do you? You can't even comprehend the fact that not even a minute before Barry called to tell me that my wife was _bleeding out_ in a hospital bed my daughter informed me that she wants to ship herself off to fight in a _war_ somewhere, or the fact that we have _four_ children that I can barely understand half the time because I _still_ struggle with understanding the human race, and I _need_ you, _we all need you_, and you go and get yourself stabbed!"

Maura was sobbing at this point, and Jane didn't really know how to make it stop. "Wait, Reggie wants to _what_?"

"You promised me, Jane."

"I know I did, Maur, I know, but-"

"This isn't the first time you've broken that promise."

"I know, Maura, but-"

"I can't do this alone."

"You aren't alone."

"I think I need to be."

"God, Maura, I... wait... what?"

"Your mother is going to take care of you for the evening, and she will be back in the morning to make sure the kids get to school. I'm going to visit my parents tonight, they are staying at the cabin for the week, and I told them I would come by," Maura explained.

"Wait, what? You're visiting your parents? When was the last time you did that?"

"Exactly, Jane. It's time I made somewhat of an effort, and I need the time at the cabin. To think about things."

"To think about what? Maura, you can't leave me."

"I'm not leaving you, Jane."

"Then what are you doing?"

"My head feels like it's going to explode. I just need time to clear it. Please, Jane, just let me do this without causing a scene. You know as well as I do that there is an audience at the top of the stairs hanging on our every word," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Call me when you get there," Jane responded, defeated.

"I will."

"Maura... I love you. More than anything. You know that, right?"

"I love you, too, Jane."

* * *

><p>"Ma, could you stop? Just serve the pasta."<p>

Angela was fussing around the kitchen as Jane, Sammy Jo, Regina, and Mikey all sat down to eat. None of them brought up the fact that their mom wasn't there, they had all heard the fight and no one wanted to rehash it right then and there. "I just think it's a shame Maura's parents are such-"

"Ma! Grandparents to my kids you're talking about in front of them. Stop."

"That sentence was so grammatically poor."

"Thank you, Sammy Jo. Eat your food."

"Someone is cranky," Angela observed, prompting Jane to roll her eyes.

"Nonna, it's because Ma has to relax all day," Mikey spoke up. "That drives her crazy."

"Thank you, Mikey," Jane said with another eye roll.

"No, it's because your Ma is pissed off at the fact that your mom is pissed off at her," Angela said, point blank, causing the three Rizzoli-Isles children to gasp. "Maura has a right to be pissed, Jane. Hell, I'm pissed. I'm always pissed. At you or Frankie, when you kids get hurt."

"Jesus, Ma, you make it sound like a regular occurrence. And can we not do this in front of my kids?"

"In Nonna's defense, it can be considered a regular occurrence," Sammy Jo spoke up.

"That I piss off your mom?"

"No," she responded. "That you or Uncle Frankie get hurt."

Jane snorted as she shoved a bite of pasta into her mouth. "That's not true."

"When does Sammy Jo say something that isn't true?" Angela retorted.

"It's not true!" Jane argued.

"Last year it was a gunshot wound to the leg," Sammy Jo began. "Six months before that, you were grazed by one in the head. A centimeter or two closer and... well... a year before that you were held at knife point by that teenager who you cornered. Not long before that-"

"Okay, okay!" Jane interrupted. "I get it. It happens a lot. But I'm always okay, right? I know what i'm doing. It's my job!"

"It's not your job to get killed!" Angela practically yelled.

Jane was about to respond, but she caught Mikey's eyes out of the corner of her own, seeing the concern in them. "I'm not having this conversation anymore. I'm fine. Everyone is fine. We caught the bad guy. Now let's eat."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **_Death Wish  
><em>

**Pairing:** _Rizzles, don't like, don't read._  
><strong>Rating:<strong> _T_  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: _All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual._

**Summary:** "In Nonna's defense, it can be considered a regular occurrence." "That I piss off your mom?" "No, that you or Uncle Frankie get hurt."

**Author's Note: **_Here we go. Part 2. __This is the last for this one, I thought it was a good place to stop for now. Though I'm sure they'll be more super soon in this series. Four kids, marriage, and a lot of years to cover with this family. Enjoy.  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Slug Bug, you awake?"<p>

Her daughter cracked one eye open to look at her Ma, who was standing awkwardly in her bedroom doorway. "If I hadn't responded, we both know you would have woken me up anyway." She scooted over in the queen sized bed at age eleven she demanded she have, so she would be able to sleep in the best position during the night.

Jane took the in, Sammy Jo knew her Ma never liked to seem as vulnerable as she knew she could be, so she didn't want to make her Ma have to ask. She climbed into the bed next to her daughter, and they both stared at the ceiling for a while. Jane wouldn't admit it, but she couldn't sleep. She needed Maura, and as immature as it was, Sammy Jo was the closest thing to her wife.

"She's entitled to be frightened, you know."

Jane knew it was only a matter of time before her daughter would break the silence. She was always a mature little girl, but now at the age of eighteen, a senior in high school beginning to prepare for the rest of her life, Sammy Jo was wiser and more mature than Jane ever expected to raise a child to be. "I'm not talking about my problems with your mom with you. You aren't that old yet, Miss Slug."

"I... wasn't really only speaking of mom."

"You know, you and your mom are the bluntest people I know, but when it comes to what you really want to say? You kinda suck at it."

Sammy Jo grew quiet for a moment. "I was up to eleven."

"Eleven what?"

"Eleven ways that the knife wound to your stomach could have easily killed you," she replied. Jane opened her mouth to protest, but Sammy Jo continued quickly before she could. "And I'm not trying to say I am mad at you. I'm not mad at you. None of us are, well, except maybe Mom and Nonna. We understand that it is your job, we grew up knowing that it was dangerous, but that you do what you do to keep us and everyone else safe. We understand that. We would never ask you to change. But I was up to eleven ways that you could have easily been killed. And if I made it that far... how many ways do you think Mom counted up to?"

Jane really didn't know how to respond to that.

"I don't even think mom is actually mad at you. I just think that she was terrified, as we all were."

"Yeah, well, she should be here talking to me about it. Not living it up in some fancy ass cabin with your grandparents," Jane mumbled, then thought better of discussing this with her child. "But we aren't talking about this anymore."

"I also think Mom was high strung from her conversation with Regina," Sammy Jo continued anyway. "She worries about you all the time. She worries about all of us, it's her nature. I don't think she really wants to have to worry about Reggie more than she already does."

"Did you know about this? About your sister wanting to join the army?"

"Yes, she practiced talking to me about it before she was going to go to you and Mom. And keep in mind she wants to go to West Point, not exactly just go and enlist. At least she would be off the front lines," Sammy Jo said.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that. I don't really feel like thinking about it just now."

"I think you should hear her out and honor her wishes, if this is what she really wants. Regina never did do anything half way. I'm sure she isn't making a rash decision."

"Enough about all of this, Slug, I really don't want to talk about it with you," Jane said, harsher this time.

"Sorry."

"What about you, Slug Bug?" Jane asked, wanting to attempt to seal the deal on changing the subject. "You're graduating soon and haven't talked to us about your big plans. Shouldn't you have some big plans by now?"

"I probably should but..."

"But what?"

"I don't really know what I want to do yet. Vinny always assumed I would, you know? Especially when he was a senior, he'd complain that my whole life is set because I get good grades and am ready for any college that would take me, and that any college _would_ take me," Sammy Jo explained. "But I just... don't know. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me that even Regina already knows what she wants."

Jane took her daughter's hand in hers. "You take your time, okay? Don't worry about any pressure of doing something amazing. You do whatever you want to do, and you take as long as you want to figure out what that is, you hear me?"

"Thanks, Ma."

They heard the front door open, and Jane practically shot up in bed, wincing at the pain in her stomach she caused as she did. She held her breath as she heard the footsteps walk up the stairs, hoping to God it was Maura. She felt bad at how disappointed she was when she heard her son's voice instead. "Ma? What are you doing in here?" he asked as came into the doorway. "Where's Mom?"

"Your Mom went to visit her parents," Jane mumbled, plopping back down on the bed.

"Oh. Shit," Vinny responded, kicking off his shoes and lying down on the bed next to Jane. "Well, that's never good. But, I mean, I could have seen this coming."

"Okay, seriously, you two need to stop growing up, because I can't be discussing adult things with you. It's freaking me out."

"Deflect with humor all you want, Ma," Vinny laughed.

"Okay, fine!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I screwed up!"

"Admitting it is the first step," Vinny smirked, prompting a laugh from Sammy Jo. "What time is it anyway? Are you really just getting in from work?"

"Long day," Vinny exhaled. "It's a little after midnight."

It was then that Jane's cell phone began to ring, startling the three of them. "Who in God's name is calling this late? You are not going out on a job, Ma, you are on medical leave!" Sammy Jo ordered.

Jane shook her head, her heart beating fast as she looked at the caller ID. "It's your Mom," she said, and answered it. "Maura? God, I miss you like crazy, please just come home, we'll talk about this, I promise."

"Jane," Maura's voice on the other end came out as a sob.

Jane froze. "Maura? Maura, what's wrong? Where are you?"

"I was trying to come home, I missed you too much and couldn't sleep," she broke off with another sob. "I'm on the side of the road by 5th and Fredrick Street." Jane heard an ambulance in the background. "I think I totaled the car, but the truck came out of nowhere and-"

"Maura! You were in an accident? Are you okay?" Jane practically yelled, causing both her children to jump up in the bed, concerned.

"I...yeah, I think so, I just... please come get me, Jane?"

"I'll be right there, Maura. I love you, I'll be right there."

* * *

><p>Her whole body was killing her, and she wondered if once Maura was officially okay from her accident, if she would yell at Jane for driving herself instead of asking Vinny or even Frankie to take her. Vinny had practically begged, but Jane ordered her two oldest children to stay home in case the younger two woke up, and practically sprinted out of the house to the car.<p>

She was also sure she broke every single traffic law on her way to Maura, but she didn't care.

She almost threw up when she finally found her wife's car, mangled on the side of the road. She skidded to a stop, not caring if she was parked in a no parking zone or crooked or whatever. "Maura?" she yelled looking around. There were police cars, a few men in uniform that she recognized but didn't have the time or care to put a name to the face, and when she spotted the ambulance, she ran over to it. "Maura!"

Maura looked up at the sound of Jane's voice, as she sat in the back of the ambulance, tears streaming down her face. "Jane."

"Oh, God, Maura, are you okay? Where are you hurt? What happened?" she didn't wait for Maura to answer any of her questions and pulled her wife into her arms. "God, you scared the shit out of me. Tell me you're okay."

"I am," she responded, though with a shaky voice. "Just a little banged up. More scared than hurt, though." She pulled back from the embrace and her eyes grew wide. "Jane! You're bleeding!"

"Yeah, I probably popped a stitch on the way over here, but I don't care, Maur, so long as you're okay." Jane pulled Maura back into her arms, kissing her, needing to feel her and know that Maura was fine. Her heart had been pounding erratically since she got Maura's call, and she just needed to make sure Maura really was okay. "Do you want to go to the hospital? Are you sure you're okay? I'll take you to the hospital if you want, I just want you sure everything is okay."

"I'm fine, Jane, please. I just want to go home. Take me home."

After finishing up with the police work and getting the okay from the paramedic for Maura to leave, they rode most of the way in silence. Jane drove; though Maura wanted to protest, knowing that Jane was most likely in pain, she was too freaked out to get behind a wheel so soon. "Why were you driving in the middle of the night to begin with, Maur?" Jane finally had to ask. "You hate driving at night. What were you thinking?"

"I wanted to get home," Maura replied. "To you. I...I couldn't sleep. And I realized I was being ridiculous. I was so afraid of losing you, and instead of being grateful that you were okay and just keeping you in my arms, I pushed you away. And I left. And I just... I needed you, Jane. So I got in my car to drive. To you."

Maura's brutal honesty still took Jane off guard most days.

"God, Maura. You scared the crap out of me. I need you safe, okay?"

Maura smiled weakly through her tears. "Welcome to my world."

Jane stopped breathing. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, and her eyes immediately filled with tears. Not wanting to risk getting her or Maura more hurt than they already were, she pulled the car over and threw it in park. "I...I make you feel like this all the time, don't I? This shitty feeling I have right now, the pounding heart and the fear and the utter loss at the thought that I could have lost you... you feel this all the time?"

"I love you, Jane. Everything about you. And that includes your job. But I just..."

"I don't exactly make it easy, do I?"

Maura sighed. "No, Jane. You do not."

"I don't really know what to say other than I'm sorry and I really don't ever want you to feel like this again."

"I just need you to try and come home to me every night, Jane. I need you to _really try_ to always come home to our family."

"I will, Maur. God. I love you all too much."

"No more unnecessary risks."

"No more. I promise you, no more."

"You've promised me that before," Maura said quietly.

Jane took her wife's hand in hers. "I was an ass before, okay? I'm still an ass now, because it took you getting hit by a car for me to realize what I really put you through. God, Maura, I don't even know how you put up with me. Sammy Jo rattled off all the times I've gotten hurt the last couple years, and I just... holy crap, I didn't even realize it, you know? I just kinda... go. Without thinking. That's how I've always worked, and, well, I...I don't know how to do things differently. But I'll try. For you and the kids, Maur, I'll try. I promise. A new promise. One I won't break. Can you believe that?"

"I'll always believe you, Jane," Maura smiled. "Please don't ever leave me alone. I can't do any of this without you."

Not able to resist any longer, Jane pulled Maura into her arms and held her tight as they both cried.

* * *

><p>"What do you think is taking so long? Ma would have called if Mom was really hurt, right?"<p>

With Jane running out of the house like a bat out of hell, both Mikey and Regina were awoken, and all four Rizzoli-Isles children sat in the living room waiting by the phone and glancing at the door, anxiously. "I'm sure everything is okay. Someone would have contacted us by now if it weren't," Sammy Jo answered her youngest sibling.

"Yeah, Mikey, we've got a couple of badass moms," Vinny said, ruffling his brother's hair. "Don't you forget it."

"Oh, shut up," Regina finally spoke up, startling the three others. She had been exceptionally quiet since their Ma had gotten stabbed, but she couldn't contain herself any longer. "They aren't invincible. One wrong move at work? Ma could be dead. She could end up on Mom's table, and then at your funeral home, Vinny. Sammy Jo will say the eulogy 'cause she's good with words, and Mikey and I will be fawned over by the rest of the family and friends 'cause we're the babies. Mom will be broken, and our family? Our family will be dead right there with her. One wrong move. She's not fucking Wonder Woman, for christ's sake."

"You shut up, Reggie!" Mikey screamed back. "That's not going to happen!"

"Why not, huh?" Regina yelled back.

"Okay, woah, you need to calm down, Reg," Vinny interrupted. "Not in front of your brother, okay? Not now. Not when we're sitting here together as a family waiting for them. Got it?"

"Besides, don't you want to become part of the armed forces, Regina?" Sammy Jo asked, confused. "It's the same kind of dangerous work you're upset at Ma for. I don't understand."

"I know!" Regina yelled. "I'm not mad at Ma, okay? I feel fucking_ terrible_ right now. Because I told Mom I wanted to go to West Point, and then Ma almost dies. It's like a sign from God or something. I was scared shitless, okay? We all were." Regina was too caught up in yelling, she didn't hear the front door open, or her mothers walk in. "How selfish am I for wanting to put every one through what we already go through with Ma? I probably have as many scars as she does, because I play hard, like she works hard. The only difference is I haven't been targeted by a serial killer or shot myself through the stomach. I end up fighting in a war? I could end up with worse."

"Maybe this is something we should discuss when we talk about your future," Maura's voice caught everyone's attention.

"Mommy!" Mikey leaped off of the couch and into his mother's arms. "You're okay!"

"I'm okay. The car is not, so we are have one less car for the week. But I'm fine."

"That's okay. Sammy Jo can walk to school," Vinny tried to joke.

"Look, it's late, okay, we're all exhausted. Let's go to bed. We'll talk tomorrow, guys okay?"

They all said their goodnights, everyone holding on to their Mom a little tighter than usual, now knowing that she was fine. "Reg, you stay back a moment, kid." She did as she was told, and waited for one of her mothers to continue. "You aren't selfish, Regina. But I think you learned a good lesson. You aren't invincible, either. And that freaked you out, huh?"

"I still want this, Ma. I just... I forgot how scary it is. To worry. Because I usually don't. I never worry. Ever. But, you know, I've been looking into this. Because when I told Sammy Jo I was considering it, she hit me with a million facts and books and shit to do research, and I actually did. I am fully prepared to tell you anything you need to know. But... but that also means I'm aware of the risks. And then having you get hurt and knowing about what I want and the risks involved I just... I forgot..."

"How about this, Regina," Maura began. "I need to fix your Ma's stitches, and I'm exhausted and really just want to sleep. But tomorrow we will discuss this further. You don't need to decide anything tonight. You are sixteen. You have time."

"Okay."

Jane wrapped her arm around her daughter. "You just wanna make me worry like I do to you guys. You're seriously the kid your Nonna cursed me to have all those years ago. Every time I gave her grief, 'Janie, one day you are going to have a kid just like you. That'll be your punishment for everything you've put me through!'. But I love you, kid."

"I know. I love you, too, Ma."

"Just go to sleep, okay? We'll talk more in the morning."

They said their goodnights and Regina made her way up the stairs. Maura went to walk towards their bedroom, but Jane wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight. "That one's going to give me anxiety."

"If she really decides she wants to do this, we're going to let her, though," Maura said. "As much as I don't want to worry more about her than I already do. If this is really what she wants, I don't want to hold her back."

"She'll be fine," Jane said, kissing Maura's neck. "So long as she doesn't take any unnecessary risks."

Maura turned in her wife's arms to face her. "If she's lead by a good example? I'm sure she won't."

"Touche."


End file.
